


Blizzard

by masulevin



Series: Artemis & Apollo Ryder - MEA [1]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Custom Female Ryder | Sara, F/F, Fluff, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 12:07:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13658652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masulevin/pseuds/masulevin
Summary: While a blizzard strands Suvi and Artemis Ryder at the Resistance base on Voeld, the two women are faced with sharing just one bed. Pre-relationship, post-admitting feelings.For Leather & Lace Week, day 1.





	Blizzard

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like Suvi and Artemis take a while to get together in the face of everything going on in Andromeda. They acknowledge the attraction but decide to wait it out for a bit like ~~idiots~~ responsible adults trying to save a galaxy.

 

“Oh, Art, let’s go to the Resistance base!” Artemis’ echoes Suvi’s words from just a few hours earlier, affecting the older woman’s accent with remarkable skill. “What could go wrong? I’ll just talk to the scientists there for hours and--”

“I do _not_ sound like that,” Suvi interjects, hands on her hips, nose wrinkled, sounding _exactly_ like that. “You didn’t have to come. I didn’t know there would be a blizzard!”

Artemis’ smile is bright and immediate. “I can’t say no to you, Suvi.” This, much to Artemis’ delight, makes Suvi blush and look away and press her lips together to hide a smile. “And I didn’t know there would be a blizzard either. It’s not like SAM can tell the future.”

“ _Local weather patterns indicated a storm was a possibility,_ ” SAM acknowledges, voice ringing out from Artemis’ omnitool so that Suvi can hear him too. “ _However, I thought the likelihood not great enough to mention. My apologies, Pathfinder, Dr. Anwar._ ”

“Oh, it’s alright, SAM,” Suvi says, blush finally receding, just as Artemis says, “Would you call us by our first names, please?”

“ _Of course. Goodnight, Artemis and Suvi_ ,” SAM says, then falls silent once more, leaving the two women alone in the little bedroom the angara cleared out for them when it was clear the blizzard wouldn’t let them drive back to the _Tempest._

It was kind of the Resistance members to make room for them at all, much less give them a whole room to share. It’s not like there’s a lot of extra rooms warm enough for two humans to sleep in this cave system on a planet almost entirely ice. Artemis had been prepared to sleep in the back of the Nomad before Heckt announced they were guests.

Except… Artemis finds herself staring at the one bed in the room, shoved against the corner, big enough for a single angara and therefore technically big enough for two human women, but still… just one bed. She looks back at Suvi to see she’s thinking the same thing, eyeing the pile of Resistance-issued linens like she’s not sure this trip was worth it after all.

“Well,” Artemis starts, then falls silent again. She and Suvi have been flirting -- a _lot_ \-- but that doesn’t mean they’re ready for something like this. But then again… maybe she’s overthinking it. She’s shared a bed with friends, both male and female, before and it’s never mattered. One of her first days on the _Tempest_ she napped on _Liam’s_ couch with him watching a vid on the other end, her feet in his lap.

She’s _definitely_ making this a bigger deal than it needs to be.

She starts again: “Ah, I guess we might as well get some sleep while we can.”

Beside her, Suvi nods and turns away before pulling off her white uniform gloves. Artemis moves away to give her a little space and starts pulling off her armor, carefully stacking it in the corner. She starts to shiver as she pulls her undersuit off, leaving her in just a practical sports bra, tank, and shorts, but she pauses long enough to dim the lights before ducking into the bed beside Suvi on the side of the mattress closer to the door, just in case.

Artemis takes a long moment to catch her breath and pretend like her heart isn’t beating out of her chest before she peeks out from under her half of the blankets to peer at her friend.

Suvi is on her back, arms over her stomach, staring up at the dark ceiling, her lower lip firmly between her teeth. She turns her head to offer Artemis a little smile after just a moment, drawn by the feeling of Artemis’ eyes on her face.

“Hello,” Suvi says, voice barely above a whisper.

Artemis pulls the blanket down farther to expose her whole face to the chilly air and Suvi’s gaze. “Hi.”

A pause, then, as they both search for something to say. Artemis’ brain is overwhelmed by being so close to Suvi with so many hours to go before morning. They’ve spent plenty of time talking, they’ve spent hours messaging back and forth, but… this is undeniably the closest they’ve ever been.

Artemis’ gaze dip to Suvi’s lips then snap back up to her eyes. Her traitorous cheeks turn pink, so she snuggles a little deeper in the covers and watches as Suvi’s smile grows.

“We should sleep,” Suvi says, but instead of closing her eyes, she rolls onto her side to face Artemis. The blanket slips below her shoulder, exposing a strip of warm brown skin Artemis has never seen before under the strap of a white tank top. She pulls the blanket back up and shivers a little, but her expression doesn’t change.

“Did you have fun with the scientists here?” Artemis asks, desperate to keep the conversation going, desperate to know this beautiful woman just that much better.

As she expected, Suvi’s face completely lights up. “ _Yes_ ,” she breathes, already winding herself up to tell Artemis everything she learned even though Artemis won’t understand most of it. It’s worth it just to see the excitement on Suvi’s face as she talks. “The angara here know _so much_ about the way Voeld _used_ to be, and about the yevara, and most of it is folklore, but it’s obviously rooted in fact--”

She goes on until she realizes she’s rambling and cuts herself off with a weak giggle. “I’m sorry. I got excited. You don’t want to hear about this.”

“I asked, didn’t I?” Artemis says, gently, and then finally gives into the temptation to reach out and push a lock of hair behind Suvi’s ear. Her fingers linger along Suvi’s cheekbone for a long moment before she pulls back. “I’ve told you before I can listen to you talk about science for hours.”

Suvi giggles and presses her face deeper into her pillow until she can only see Artemis out of one eye. “You might regret that one day.”

“Never.” The seriousness in her tone surprises even her, and she blinks rapidly before opening her mouth again to say -- to say what? To apologize? To take it back? She doesn’t want to take the promise _back,_ she wants the chance to _prove it._ “I, uh… we should get some sleep, I guess. Before I say anything else.”

Suvi’s face, still half hidden, softens, and she chews on her lips as she thinks. Artemis watches, holding her body perfectly still in an effort to _behave_ and resist the temptation to reach out for Suvi again, no matter how heartbreakingly strong it is.

“Can you sleep when it’s this cold?” Suvi’s voice is quiet and, briefly, stops Artemis’ heart.

The answer is, of course, _yes._ Artemis can sleep almost anywhere, and she hasn’t been cold since the blankets warmed to the slightly-higher-than-normal temperature of her body.

Suvi, though, isn’t a biotic, and her shoulders are still hunched under her share of the blanket. It’s hard to tell in the dim lighting, but Artemis thinks she can see a blush along her cheekbone.

“Are you still cold?” It’s a stupid question, but Suvi nods anyway. Her hair rustles against the pillow. “Do you want me to, um--” she trails off, squinting, trying to figure out how exactly to initiate her shifting desire to wrap her arms around Suvi and bury her face in her hair. “If you roll over, I can…”

Suvi rolls to her other side by moving closer to Artemis, and as she moves, Artemis can see the wide smile twisting her lips. Artemis closes the last of the distance between them to wrap her arms around Suvi, gathering her up and holding her close before finally giving in and burying her face in Suvi’s soft red hair.

“Oh, you’re _warm_ ,” Suvi coos, snuggling closer and pressing her bare toes between Artemis’. She tugs the blanket more snuggly around their shoulders and sighs in quiet contentment.

 _Artemis,_ SAM’s voice in her mind makes Artemis jump a little, but she covers for it by squeezing Suvi a little tighter for a moment. _Your dopamine levels have spiked._

Artemis huffs out a laugh that makes Suvi squirm a little.

“What is it?”

Artemis laughs again and gives into temptation, just once more, to press a soft kiss to Suvi’s shoulder. “SAM just told me that I’m happy.”

Suvi reaches up and runs her hand up and down Artemis’ arm before gently squeezing and falling still. “I’m happy, too.”


End file.
